Alumni Awards

Alumni Citation Award & Kin Takahashi Award

The 2016 Alumni Awards Ceremony was held Oct. 21 in the Clayton Center for the Arts’ Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall, as part of the College’s Homecoming festivities.

The College’s Alumni Citation was presented to Jim Cummings ’56 and Ross Hamory ’70. Since 1961, the College’s Alumni Citations have recognized graduates who have rendered such service in professional, business, civic, social or religious endeavor as to benefit humankind and bring honor to the College, or who have rendered unusual service in any capacity on behalf of the College. (Details and Videos below)

Marissa McInnis ’04 was presented the Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni, which is given to an alumnus who has, within 15 years of his/her graduation from Maryville College, lived a life characteristic of College legend Kin Takahashi, who, in his 36 years of living, worked tirelessly for the betterment of his alma mater, his church and his society. (Details and Videos below)

A committee met in early 2016 to review nominations and recommend winners to the College’s president and Board of Directors.

Jim Cummings - Class of '56

After graduating from Maryville College and majoring in physics, Jim Cummings ’56 joined the U.S. Navy and served as an air intelligence officer.

Following his missionary family tradition, he went to Pakistan and India to serve as a teacher and coach. Returning to Maryville in 1962, he served as a Maryville College admissions counselor and later as a teacher and coach at Maryville High School.

He attended New York Theological Seminary, where he earned a bachelor of divinity degree with an emphasis on pastoral counseling, and Boston University School of Theology, where he earned a master’s degree in psychology of religion and pastoral care.

After ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Cummings pastored churches in Tennessee, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Florida over the next 30 years, eventually settling in Lakeland, Fla., where he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the Highlands for 10 years.

In retirement, he has served interim and stated supply pastorates for churches in the Tampa Bay Presbytery. Continuing mission work, he has supported the schools of the Presbyterian Education Board and Forman Christian College, based in Lahore, Pakistan. He has also helped build mission stations in Ethiopia.

Cummings has served as a Red Cross chaplain, and this year, he joined the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team.

He is a member of the President’s Circle, Society of 1819 and Isaac Anderson Society, and he has served on the College’s Board of Church Visitors. He established a family scholarship and has organized several class gift campaigns as president of his class.

Cummings resides in Lakeland, Fla., with his wife, Marilyn. They have two sons, John and Timothy.

Ross Hamory - Class of ’70

Ross Hamory ’70 graduated from Maryville College with a degree in political science and began a 34-year career with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that took him all over the world. He served in a variety of management and professional positions in administration and personnel management until 1987, when he moved to aviation security and became Deputy Division Manager of Civil Aviation Security for the Southern Region.

Hamory rose through the managerial ranks of the FAA, managing civil aviation security for the Europe, Africa and Middle East Region while living in Brussels, Belgium, and eventually becoming the Director of the Asia Pacific International Office in Singapore.

After serving as Director of the Office of International Aviation in Washington, D.C., he became the Director of the FAA Civil Aviation Security's Office of Operations in 2001 – three days after 9/11 – to manage aviation security activities worldwide. Before retiring in 2004, he was Director of the Office of Security and Intelligence for the Department of Transportation, reporting directly to the Secretary of Transportation. It was in this capacity that he led a team to Baghdad, Iraq, in spring 2004.

Hamory was awarded the Secretary of Transportation’s prestigious Gold Medal twice – once in 2003 for outstanding service after 9/11, and again in 2004 for his contributions to the rebuilding of transportation infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He is a member of the President’s Circle and the College’s National Alumni Board, and he is a regular volunteer during Kin Takahashi Week. He and his wife, Chris McCormack Hamory ’71, live in Atlanta, Ga., and have two daughters, Jordan and Kelsey.

Marissa McInnis - Class of ’04

After graduating from Maryville College as a double major in piano performance and environmental studies, Marissa McInnis ’04 moved to Alaska to serve as a team leader with AmeriCorps, working with native youth and the National Park Service.

She then moved to Washington, D.C., for an internship at AmeriCorps headquarters and began working on a master’s degree in environmental science and policy at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on hydrological issues and community-based solutions. These experiences helped her land a job at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. In that role, she received a bronze medal award for automating the agency’s performance reporting process and received the President’s Quality Award for Overall Management in 2008.

In 2009, McInnis started a new role to build from the ground up and direct communications and outreach for the EPA’s Tribal Program. As White House liaison on tribal affairs, she handled communication on complex tribal environmental issues, and she received White House recognition for developing and managing the EPA’s Tribal ecoAmbassadors Program.

In 2015, she was asked to serve the White House Council on Environmental Quality as Senior Sustainability Officer for Climate Preparedness, and this summer, she started work as the Climate Change and Sustainability Manager for the U.S. Navy – a presidential appointment.

McInnis is a member of the MC President’s Circle and the College’s National Alumni Board, and she helped cofound the MC in DC alumni chapter in 2013. She and her husband, Ariel Laguilles, live in Washington, D.C.

Do you know someone deserving of an alumni award?

The privilege of making nominations for any alumni award is given to alumni, past and present faculty and staff members and friends of Maryville College. Nominations must be received by January 1 to be considered for awards in the fall.

Alumni Citation

An award known as an “Alumni Citation” may be made to any alumnus of Maryville College (alumnus to be defined according to the Constitution of the Alumni Association) who has rendered such service in professional, business, civic, social or religious endeavor as to benefit humankind and bring honor to the College, or who has rendered unusual service in any capacity on behalf of the College.

Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni

An award known as a “Kin Takahashi Award for Young Alumni” shall be given to any alumnus/alumna (to be defined according to the Constitution of the Alumni Association), who has, within 15 years of his/her graduation from Maryville College, lived a life characteristic of College legend Kin Takahashi, who, in his 36 years of living, worked tirelessly for the betterment of his alma mater, his church and his society. Learn more about him →

Wall of Fame

The purpose of the Wall of Fame is to recognize outstanding individuals who have contributed to Maryville College athletics. Recognition is in two categories: “Regular membership” is reserved for those student-athletes who competed for Maryville College, displaying excellence in athletic competition. Nominees for regular membership must be graduates of the College. “Special membership” is granted to those people who have been of outstanding value to the Maryville College Athletics Program. Learn more →

HOW TO MAKE A NOMINATION:

Read the descriptions below and see which award is most fitting for your nominee.

It's also helpful to have materials that support your nomination (vitae, newspaper clippings, commendatory letters, etc.). If you have such items, please either scan and email them to the Alumni Office or mail to:Alumni AwardsOffice of AdvancementMaryville College502 E. Lamar Alexander ParkwayMaryville, TN, 37804.

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Maryville College offers sincere congratulations and gratitude for the service of these fine alumni.